WOMEN FOR SAIL 

by Suzanne Kamhi  

1990

(Editors note: beat read in an Hungarian accent]

"Will there be any men there, in case things go wrong?", asked my son with some concern and plenty of sarcasm. " Oh, you are so adventurous! " exclaimed my co-workers when they found out that I am taking a sailing course given by women for women. For days I became the talk of the town at work, being a dull period of time, middle of winter, nothing else to talk about. Having been sailing with Sam a couple of summers, I have picked up some, minimum of sailing skills, and I know a woman can be just as good (or bad) as a man. My only concern was "Will I learn enough?"

I arrived to Key West late Friday afternoon on an Eastern Airline non-jet, fifteen seater plane which could have just out of a Bogart movie. After a scary, aborted landing, with some apprehension (am I ready to leave solid ground so soon?), I headed for NUAGE 9, the 43 foot Irwin which win be my home for seven days. There she was, with the WOMEN FOR SAIL logo on it. There is some- thing about boats in general that makes my heart beat faster, clouds my mind, and makes me forget everything. Yes, I fell in love with the boat instantaneously. I was the first crewmember to arrive. I chose my bunk and with a soda in my hand, watched the first of the many sunsets I would see. Slowly, the other crewmembers arrived: two women from Rhode Island, two Texans, and the two "lady" captains. We introduced ourselves, and by talking about our sailing experience, what we do in life, and MENI we clicked instantaneously (women bonding?). What fascinating women they all turned out to be.

Why are we taking this course? was the question. The two Texan ladies, in their fifties, were ready to make a change in their lifestyles. Marty, married five times-the last one was ten years ago- after she adopted an Aids baby who turned out to be free of Aids, decided to buy a boat and sail to the Bahamas. Marty also had a pilot's license in her belt. (And they called me adventurous at work!).

Nina, a hospital administrator from Rhode Island, was planning to accompany a man to sail around the world. Sue, also from Rhode Island, who lived as a traditional housewife and loved every minute of it until her very messy recent divorce, was determined to take the helm into her own hands. And 1, my head full of Sam's instructions

"make sure you find out what they do with the genoa when ... and how they anchor when ... etc. was only eager to develop some confidence so we can make more use of our S-2, formerly Joe Heslin's.

We spent the first morning on Cloud 9, with evenly distributing the daily duties on the boat which included preparing meals below and above decks, VHF duties, and scary things like engineer and battery checks. After the first blunders (some- body forgot to close a porthole and the bedding got soaked, or water was gushing into the engine compartment, or was the wind south/south west or south east, we learned from our mistakes and we were in charge. The next seven days we spent in paradise! Every day we saw the sun rise and set, anchored near islands populated only by wildlife, learned docking and dead reckoning. We navigated through channels with only six or seven feet of depth below us and we ran aground once. No- body yelled! The water was constantly choppy and I managed to overcome my fear of heavy winds. The best sailing we did was on a rainy day. I never even ventured out on a cloudy day before! I have never enjoyed a beer more than after a day of sailing (and instructions on sail trim), anchored and swung around in a light breeze (and it was not my turn to prepare dinner.)

The last day we hugged and sadly said goodbye, exchanging addresses and phone numbers. I believe what one of our captains said that some women just keep taking the course over and over again.